Stanley Cup Playoffs : After Brawl Is Over, Flyers KO Canadiens, 4-3

Perhaps inspired by a pregame brawl, the Philadelphia Flyers went out and delivered a knockout punch to the Montreal Canadiens’ dreams of repeating as Stanley Cup champions.

“It (the brawl) gave us all the more reason to play hockey,” defenseman Mark Howe said after the Flyers defeated the Canadiens, 4-3, Thursday night to win the Wales Conference title in six games and move into the Stanley Cup finals.

“I think it possibly gave us a boost,” Flyer goaltender Ron Hextall said in reference to the vicious free-for-all that broke out on the ice between the players at the end of the pregame warmups. “We really wanted to put them away tonight and not have to go back to a seventh game in Philadelphia.”

The Flyers will play the Edmonton Oilers in a rematch of the 1985 finals, beginning Sunday night at Edmonton. The Oilers won two years ago, 4 games to 1.

The Flyers fell behind, 3-1, in Game 6 here before rallying to overtake the Canadiens.

Ilkka Sinisalo and Scott Mellanby scored to make it 3-3 midway through the second period before Rick Tocchet got the game-winner 7:11 into the third period.

“When we got the lead,” Flyer captain Dave Poulin said, “it would have been very easy to go into a shell. But we kept pushing hard after that. We knew that we still had a long way to go.”

The victory gave the Flyers their sixth trip to the finals since they entered the National Hockey League in 1967. They won two Stanley Cups, in 1974 and 1975.

The brawl, which lasted about 15 minutes, was sparked when Montreal right wing Claude Lemieux attempted to shoot the puck into the Flyers’ net, as is his custom after warmups.

Lemieux, who came back onto the ice with teammate Shayne Corson, went to take his ritualistic shot but was spotted by two Flyers--goaltender Glenn Resch and defenseman Ed Hospodar--as they left the ice.

The two raced back in an attempt to stop the puck from going in the net. Resch threw his stick at the puck and missed. Hospodar threw himself at Lemieux and began punching.

Players from both sides, who had adjourned to their dressing rooms, rushed back onto the ice. Several individual fights broke out before order was restored.

No penalties were assessed, but league officials indicated a hearing will be held to determine any disciplinary measures.

Poulin gave much of the credit for the Flyers’ win to Hextall, who made 29 stops--including several big saves in the final minutes, when the Canadiens pressed for the tying goal.

“With Hextall in goal, it’s hard to get down,” Poulin said. “Even when we were losing, 3-1, we still had confidence. We still knew that Ronnie was back there to do the job for us.”